In Nepal, an education is a privilege. It is not free to all children and is not taken for granted. Unfortunately, only about 50% of boys and even fewer girls get the chance of a good education and the opportunity to free themselves and their families from the vicious poverty cycles they are born into. In Britain, education is compulsory for all and generally taken for granted. Many who receive our free education fail to make the most of the opportunity.  We have no idea how lucky we are.

Too often a family in Nepal has to make the choice between eating a meal or sending a child to school. Children are sent out to work as soon as they are physically able, earning just a few pence a day, often from an age of 6 or 7.  There is no money and no time to go to school.  Very poor families and single mothers are constant prey for immoral agents dealing in human trafficking. Girls, especially, are at a high risk of being duped or sold into bonded labour or prostitution.  Women who are abandoned by their husbands and have no education themselves, no support, no state benefits, and no way of earning a living are not able to feed their children let alone educate them.

The importance of an education cannot be underestimated; it really means a future. In a country where there is no free education, no state benefits, no free health care and no pensions, the opportunity of employment is everything, not only for themselves but also for their families and community.  

It costs just £3.50 a week to educate a child in Nepal at a good English-speaking school 

1. School Sponsorship
We are looking for people to commit to giving a child the opportunity for an education. Sponsorship covers education, school uniform, and books. In return, you will receive a update of your sponsor child’s progress and a picture from the child twice a year, a school report annually, and lifelong appreciation.

There are so many children who need help, so how do we select which children to provide sponsorship for?

We direct all school sponsorship to help Nepali children who have been rescued from bonded labour in Indian circuses (slavery) by The Esther Benjamins Trust.  EBT is a registered UK charity and runs a refuge in Nepal for the children who cannot be placed back with their families after they have been rescued.  When a child is asked what they would like to do, nearly everytime “to go to school” is the immediate answer, so we assist The Esther Benjamins Trust in finding sponsors for the ‘circus’ children.

Through the activities of Hatti Trading, we are able to find people who want to help a little bit more by sponsoring a child, but the contact and payment is direct with The Esther Benjamins Trust who is a registered charity, looks after the children and has the infrastructure to implement and monitor the sponsorship effectively.